DIY: IKEA Rast Dresser

Happy Wednesday! We’re halfway into the week and the weekend is in sight. There is something about staying inside during winter, which makes me want to clean, purge, and hack furniture. Looking back I thought I’d share my experience from a little while back. In the summer, over a weekend, I hacked IKEAs Rast Dresser and must admit I’m fairly impressed with how it turned out, being my first ever furniture hack!

Materials List:

Two Rast Dressers

Handles (completely up to you to use ones provided or change them up)

Painters Tape

Wood Stain

Wood Varnish

White Paint

A cloth

Paint Brush

Cardboard or a tarp for a work area

Eager me wanted to assemble prior to painting, it worked out okay but completely up to you if you want to wait until the end.

To start the transformation process I stained the frame of the dressers. Warning – fumes are strong and painting must be completed outside. Two coats of stain were required to get the desired darkness. I let one coat dry on Saturday, then completed a second coat on Sunday morning. Then applied a clear varnish/sealer. I recommend going to your local hardware or paint store to ask their advice on which products are best for the type of wood you’re hacking. One tip they advised of was not leaving the cloth with a bucket of water in the sun as they will combust. Safety first my dears!

While the frames dried I painted the fronts of the drawers. Helpful trick: Place painters tape behind the handle holes to prevent paint from dripping. Two coats of white paint were required to fully cover the fronts.

As the wood is not treated to begin with, this made for a really easy project. I ordered handles on amazon (again, another first, I’m late to the game!), then by Sunday night everything was dry.

One issue I encountered was leaving the dressers on the grass all night. Note to myself for future, bring them inside or in the garage. With plenty of wildlife nearby, one animal must of knocked them over and touch ups were required in the morning.

All in these dressers cost roughly $200 ($100 per dresser). Compared to similar ones on the market I like to think it’s a pretty good bargain. Ready to hack some more furniture, any ideas?